Palmerston's very inactivity drove Liberals and the younger Conservatives to look to the working classes for support for the measures that were planned.

The middle class was satisfied that the artisans could be admitted to the franchise without danger to the Constitution.

Palmerston's death in 1865 left the Liberal Party to Earl Russell's premiership, with Gladstone as its leader in the Commons.

Reform was now inevitable.
The Bill as first introduced in 1866 was a moderate measure, making a L7 rental the qualification for a vote in the boroughs.

It was too moderate to provoke any enthusiasm, and it was hateful to the old Palmerstonian Whigs and most of the Conservatives, who objected to any enfranchisement of the working class.